In the 2003 video The Corporation, by Mark Achbar, Jennifer Abbot, and Joel Bakan explore the inner workings of the corporate model. The corporate model is a node in the matrix of issues that make sustainability difficult. Corporations are “people” in the eyes of the legal system in the United States, gaining this standing after the civil war. Once they gained this standing, there power grew, gaining substantial control in the government. This momentum of the corporate model leads to “shady” business practices, because they are legally bound to make a profit many CEO’s, but not all, often walk the line between legal and illegal practices to turn a profit.
The externalization of costs cut the overhead in production costs. Having overseas production faculties in underdeveloped nations, means that corporations can exploit the people for the cheap labor, and for their resources. Sweatshops and child labor have been exploited to make very cheap products at very low cost, often paying workers pennies for a day’s work. This is “allowed” to happen because U.S. laws do not follow U.S. businesses outside of the country. In order to abolish this kind of worker exploitation the local government must take up the cause, which is often difficult due to deals with the company manufacturing within their borders.
The use of media is another corporate tool used to gather support for both their actions and products. Corporate advertising bombards us every minute sense the time we get up in the morning until the time we go to bed. These messages can either be obvious or subliminal. None the less both forms tell us that we are going to be miserable people, miserable citizens if we don’t have X, and X can be anything form clothing to a computer. Corporations also own most of the news stations, and other corporations often have a high level of influence over which stories can be published or not, thought there advertising dollars. Such was the case for a FOX news station in Florida when they tried to air a story about Monsanto’s artificial cow growth hormone. The use and sale of rBGH is big business and to this day the United States in the only developed country to allow human consumption of milk from animals treated with this chemical (Sustainable Table, 2008). When reporters at fox took their case to court, the court upheld that fox didn’t have to legally report the truthfulness of any story, allowing for corporate censorship of the news.
One aspect to this video I have issue with is, how it says that ALL corporations are “evil” personally I don’t believe that their all bad, but I certainly don’t agree with everything that they do. Also I’m skeptical of corporate America’s involvement in aiding Nazi Germany, as pointed out in the video through IBM’s computing machine for concentration camp record keeping. Although I think that it’s likely, and possibly the truth that the Nazis used IBM machines for record keeping, I do not believe that IBM head quarters in New York City, knew that they where aiding the German war effort. All documentation found about the connection, deal with an IBM affiliate in Denmark. Until further evidence is shown I am at least skeptic of the true nature of events (Grace, 2002).
This video was highly educational showing the interconnections between government, business and the general public. I believe that this was made for a more mature and educated audience, college students and even high school, although it probably should be taken with a grain of salt.
In the 2003 video The Corporation, by Mark Achbar, Jennifer Abbot, and Joel Bakan explore the inner workings of the corporate model. The corporate model is a node in the matrix of issues that make sustainability difficult. Corporations are “people” in the eyes of the legal system in the United States, gaining this standing after the civil war. Once they gained this standing, there power grew, gaining substantial control in the government. This momentum of the corporate model leads to “shady” business practices, because they are legally bound to make a profit many CEO’s, but not all, often walk the line between legal and illegal practices to turn a profit.
The externalization of costs cut the overhead in production costs. Having overseas production faculties in underdeveloped nations, means that corporations can exploit the people for the cheap labor, and for their resources. Sweatshops and child labor have been exploited to make very cheap products at very low cost, often paying workers pennies for a day’s work. This is “allowed” to happen because U.S. laws do not follow U.S. businesses outside of the country. In order to abolish this kind of worker exploitation the local government must take up the cause, which is often difficult due to deals with the company manufacturing within their borders.
The use of media is another corporate tool used to gather support for both their actions and products. Corporate advertising bombards us every minute sense the time we get up in the morning until the time we go to bed. These messages can either be obvious or subliminal. None the less both forms tell us that we are going to be miserable people, miserable citizens if we don’t have X, and X can be anything form clothing to a computer. Corporations also own most of the news stations, and other corporations often have a high level of influence over which stories can be published or not, thought there advertising dollars. Such was the case for a FOX news station in Florida when they tried to air a story about Monsanto’s artificial cow growth hormone. The use and sale of rBGH is big business and to this day the United States in the only developed country to allow human consumption of milk from animals treated with this chemical (Sustainable Table, 2008). When reporters at fox took their case to court, the court upheld that fox didn’t have to legally report the truthfulness of any story, allowing for corporate censorship of the news.
One aspect to this video I have issue with is, how it says that ALL corporations are “evil” personally I don’t believe that their all bad, but I certainly don’t agree with everything that they do. Also I’m skeptical of corporate America’s involvement in aiding Nazi Germany, as pointed out in the video through IBM’s computing machine for concentration camp record keeping. Although I think that it’s likely, and possibly the truth that the Nazis used IBM machines for record keeping, I do not believe that IBM head quarters in New York City, knew that they where aiding the German war effort. All documentation found about the connection, deal with an IBM affiliate in Denmark. Until further evidence is shown I am at least skeptic of the true nature of events (Grace, 2002).
This video was highly educational showing the interconnections between government, business and the general public. I believe that this was made for a more mature and educated audience, college students and even high school, although it probably should be taken with a grain of salt.
Bibliography
Achbar, Mark; Abbot, Jennifer; Bakan, Joel (Director). The Corporation. 2003. [Motion Picture] http://www.thecorporation.com/index.cfmGrace, F. (2002, March 27). IBM And Nazi Germany. Retrieved November 5, 2010, from CBS News: http://www.cbsnews.com/stories/2002/03/27/print/main504730.shtml
Sustainable Table. (2008, July). rBGH & rBST. Retrieved November 5, 2010, from Sustainable Table: http://www.sustainabletable.org/spread/handouts/rBGH.pdf